Hunting wild animals,, and especially deer, is an art requiring the proper mix of intelligence, patience, endurance and the right equipment. Because deer rely heavily on their highly developed sense of smell to alert them to a multitude of factors, such as danger, food, the presence of other animals, it is necessary for the hunter to blend into the environment, without alerting the deer to his presence. It is also very helpful to provide some means to attract the animal to the hunter's vicinity.
With respect to deer, and especially the male of the species or the buck, a buck lure is often used to tempt the buck. Buck lures have application not only for deer hunters, but for photographers and other wildlife enthusiasts.
The predominant type of deer lure used today is in the form of a liquid which is generally prepared by fermenting tarsal glands of several deer in urine. The urine is usually a combination of buck, doe and fawn urine. The urine is generally collected by bringing a herd of deer into a building with grates on the floor. The deer urinate onto the grates, and the urine falls through the grates for collection.
A major problem with this method of collection of urine is, however, that the deer also defecate onto the grates and the urine thus becomes contaminated with feces. Deer feces is approximately 35% composed of bacteria (dry weight).
The bacteria which may be found in the contaminated urine include, but are not limited, to the following, all of which are pathogenic to human beings: Listeria, Shigella, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, and Giardia lamblia. Symptoms of infection by these organisms include: chills, fever, diarrhea, dehydration, hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome (kidney failure), brain damage, and death. The contaminated urine also may contain a variety of viruses, which are also pathogenic. Thus, the hunter who applies an untreated deer lure to the ground risks infection by any of these pathogens.
Furthermore, the presence of these organisms in the urine shortens the shelf life of the deer lure preparation because of degradation. The deer lure preparation changes to a darker or black color, which is considered to be unsellable. The store must therefore rotate its stock of deer lure preparation fairly frequently.
There is a need for a method of processing big game scent, such as deer lure preparations, which kills or removes pathogenic bacteria without destroying or denaturing the aromatic character of the lure which causes deer to be attracted to the lure.